Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics
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The development of COVID-19 vaccines is occurring at a rapid pace, with the potential for a vaccine to be available within 6 months. So who should be prioritized for vaccination when in the first instance, there will be insufficient supply to meet demand? There is no doubt that health-care workers in all settings should be vaccinated first, but who comes next will be a complex decision based on local epidemiology, societal values, and the ability of the vaccines to prevent both severe disease and to reduce transmission thereby eliciting herd protection. ⋯ In some settings, the elderly may be prioritized, in others, it may be the population most likely to get infected and responsible for community spread. To support decision-making on who to be prioritized for vaccination requires urgent additional research on the epidemiology of COVID-19; preexisting immunity and who is responsible for transmission in a variety of settings; the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in children and pregnant women; and determining whether COVID-19 vaccines prevent asymptomatic infection and transmission.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · May 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialA phase 1, randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an mRNA-based RSV prefusion F protein vaccine in healthy younger and older adults.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) causes lower respiratory tract infections that can be severe and sometimes fatal. The risk for severe RSV infection is highest in infants and older adults. A safe and effective RSV vaccine for older adults represents a serious unmet medical need due to higher morbidity and mortality in this age group. ⋯ Primary objectives were safety and tolerability and secondary objectives included humoral and cell-mediated immunogenicity. All dose levels of mRNA-1777 (V171) were generally well tolerated and no serious adverse events related to the vaccine were reported. Immunization with mRNA-1777 (V171) elicited a humoral immune response as measured by increases in RSV neutralizing antibody titers, serum antibody titers to RSV prefusion F protein, D25 competing antibody titers to RSV prefusion F protein, and cell-mediated immune responses to RSV-F peptides.
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Subcutaneous vaccine (SC) administration is an outmoded practice which complicates vaccine administration recommendations. Local adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) are a recognized determinant of vaccine hesitancy/refusal which can lead to an increased prevalence of vaccine-preventable disease. ⋯ This, combined with moderate grade evidence that IM injection generates significantly greater immune response compared with SC injection, allows a strong recommendation to be made for the IM injection of all vaccines except BCG and Rotavirus. This will simplify vaccination practice, minimize the inadvertent misadministration of vaccines and potentially improve public trust in vaccination.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Apr 2021
ReviewProduct review of the rotavirus vaccines ROTASIIL, ROTAVAC, and Rotavin-M1.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe dehydrating gastroenteritis and death due to diarrhea among children under 5, causing over 180,000 under-5 deaths annually. Safe, effective rotavirus vaccines have been available for over a decade and are used in over 98 countries. ⋯ All three vaccines have demonstrated safety and efficacy against rotavirus diarrhea, although publicly available preclinical data are limited in some cases. This expanding product landscape presents a range of options to optimize immunization programs, and new presentations of each vaccine are currently under development.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Apr 2021
Observational StudyTocilizumab prescribing criteria for COVID-19 patients.